Summary of Evidence
World War 1
To what extent did imperialism and Nationalism cause the First World War?
As 20th century approaches, many European powers particularly France and Great Britain
conquered many foreign territories in Asia and Africa. Because of Europeans ambition
imperialism around the world, this created tensions between super powers. Kaiser Wilhelm of
Germany also wanted a "place on the sun" (Bloy) for Germany which further increases political
pressures between empires. Therefore, an area such as the Balkans was important for territorial
gains which were one of the reasons why Russia was a close ally of Serbia, in order to spread its
influence in the region. However, at the same time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was threatened
by territorial expansion of Serbia because it will push more factions towards the move for
independent and causes areas of the empire to revolt against the Hungarian rule. Because of this,
many of the factions in the Balkans were pushing for independence which ultimately cause the
Archduke Franz Ferdinand to be assassinated by a Bosnian terrorist group; "Black Hand". This
gave a full justification for Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia and regain back its previous
territories. The British foreign minister during the time quoted; "Never before seen one state
address to another independent State a document of so formidable character" –Sir Edward Grey
(Bisson). This statement further proves the amount of hatred Austria had towards Serbia and the
amount of tension both countries had.
During the early 1900s, Europe was divided into two sides. Triple Entente military alliance
consisted of Russia, Britain and France while the Three Alliance consisted of Germany, AustriaHungary and Ottoman Empire. Because of the contested territories, alliance was used in order to
maintain the balance of power and prevent limited wars from occurring. As a result, this led to an
arms race in order to prevent events such as the lost of the Franco-Prussian war due to the French
outdated military equipments. As a result, both Germany and Britain manage to increase their
military shipping significantly. By 1910, Germany's shipping increased from 88,000 to 964,000
tonnes. While Britain increased from 650,000 to 2,174,000 tonnes (Bloy). Also, military
conscriptions were introduced in both France and Germany where 50% to 85% of the male
population were serving in the Navy or armed forces (Bloy). Other military inventions including
machine guns, steam turbines and dreadnoughts further increase the likeliness of war between
European superpowers. By 1889, Great Britain's policy was to have twice the size of the second
biggest navy during the time in order to prevent Germany's naval superiority. By the early 1914s,
the size of armies had doubled from hundreds of thousands to millions in terms of manpower
(Bloy). Therefore, war plans such as the Schlieffen plan to beat France before Russia mobilizes
and Plan XVII to regain back Alsace and Lorraine territories from Germany were design to end
the war in six months (Duffy).
During the colonial era, large empires such as the British, French and Spanish relied heavily on
occupied territories all over the world in order to support their economy and increase the amount
of raw materials for the home land. This way, empires had no need to worry about shortages of
products that can cause civil unrests within the society. As Cecil Rhodes stated; “If you want to
avoid civil war, become an imperialist” (Bloy) and what he meant by this is that, by having
overseas colonies, it can provide huge number of business and opportunities for the population.
As a result, the improvements in standard living from colonies provide peace and prosperity at
home country. This was an enormous matter for many countries as they rely heavily on trade in
order to strengthen their military forces for future occupations. This is the reason why Germany
occupied Alsace and Lorraine from France during the Franco-Prussian war; (Bisson) because
those territories are rich with coal mines and other natural resources that can fuel Germany’s
economic growth.
The nationalist movements were very common before the First World War. It was an idea where
a nation is being created and expanding the borders of that nation to create racial superiority.
Nationalism led to the creation of Italy and Germany in Europe and like other European powers,
these countries is eager for a global conquest and domination. Many limited or small wars that
occurred in the Balkans were also because of nationalism which led to the assassination of the
Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The assassination sent a clear message to Austria-Hungary regarding
the movement for independence and freedom from Austria-Hungarian rule. Thus, wars were
welcomed by a huge number of the population and historians can perceive this from the depiction
of art by artists such as Rupert and Brook where they view war as means of cleansing the society.
Hence, it was heavily supported by a large number of the population as the number of peacetime
and standing army increases by more than 100% by 1914 (Bloy). Furthermore, the statement
made by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany as “place in the sun” shows the willingness of investing
large amount in order to occupy new territories overseas and spreading German influence to
create a racial superiority between nations.
Analysis
The origins of the First World War are still hotly debated today by many historians and these
causes are categorized as long and short term causes. However, the cause or all causes can be
seen through aspects such as nationalism and imperialism that rose during the late 1800s until the
early 1900s where most of the European powers were seeking for colonies overseas in order to
support their industrialized economy at home and improve the standard of living; “If you want to
avoid civil war, become and Imperialist” – Cecil Rhodes. Addressing this quote, raw materials
such as spices from India was vital for Britain’s economy and creating peace between the
populations at home. Hence, the idea of imperialism was essential for the Europeans during the
time. By the late 1800s, German and British products were competing on the market and this
event threatened British trade might (Chung). This ties to the idea of nationalism; the creation of
a nation and having a racial superiority and control and because of this, new countries such as
Italy and Germany emerged during the late 1800s and were seeking to have control over
enormous territories such as the British and French which can create clashes and arguments over
the controls of regions because of its natural resources. This is one of the reasons why Germany
took Alsace and Lorraine from France during the Franco-Prussian war; because of the coal
supplies of productivity to fuel the growth of its navy (Duffy). Other political statements such as
Kaiser Wilhelm’s opinion of Germany’s place “In the Sun” (Bisson) further led to political
turmoil and crisis between Germany and Great Britain.
One of the example of the existence of the tension that had been growing between nations was the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by a nationalist movement that was
pushing for independence from Austro-Hungarian rule; The Black Hand (Bisson). At the same
time, Russia also wanted to spread its influence in the Balkans by supporting Serbia by military
means and this pattern in international relations between nations led to the establishment of
systems of alliances in order to prevent wars from occurring. However, by having Systems of
Alliances that was created by Bismack (Chung) such as the Reinsurance treaty, Dual Alliance and
Dreikaiserbug, it increased the likeliness of full scale warfare since more countries would be
involved in an event where one country declares war on another as mentioned by Taylor; “The
alliances created an excessively rigid diplomatic framework, within which relatively
small detonators could produce huge explosions.”
Therefore, the race to have the strongest military forces emerged as historians can perceive this
trend within the German and British naval expenditure and fleet increase by more than 100%.
Germany’s increase in Naval transportation grew from 88,000 tonnes to 960,000 tonnes while the
British navy increased from 640,000 to 2,174,000 tonnes (Bloy), and the purpose of having them
was to defend the colonies they were controlling and occupy more territories and the force that is
driving the population to support these military growth was the belief that war is the only way to
any kinds of reformation (Bisson). In addition, throughout the course of the war, 50% to 85% of
the male populations were subjected to military service and conscripts in both France and
Germany for Navy or Army. Furthermore, wars were generally welcomed by the public as many
artists during the time such as Rupert and Brook that viewed war as a way towards new
reformations and alterations within the society (Bisson). Hence, this is the factor that fueled the
growth in defensive expenditures. Posters of army recruitments clearly influence the aspect of
national duty. Phrases such as “Your King and Country Need You!” (Walsh) was fueling the
movement for going to war.
In conclusion, all of the causes that had been mentioned tied back to the idea of imperialism and
nationalism because it was the spark that causes a domino effect for all of the other short and long
term causes to occur. Territorial ambitions and racial superiority did play a major role in the
causes of the war because although Germany was to blame for the war as stated in the Treaty of
Versailles however, many of the European Nations during the time were seeking for foreign
colonies to support their growing economy which ultimately led to political tensions between
European superpowers and thus, led into a world war.
Walsh, Ben “Your King & Country Need you!” National Archive
< http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/greatwar/g2/cs3/g2cs3s5a.htm>
Duffy, Michael "The Causes of World War One." First World War. 27 Mar. 2004. 29 Nov. 2008
<http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm>.
Kelly, Martin. "Top 5 Causes of World War 1." About.com. 30 Nov.
<http://americanhistory.about.com/od/worldwari/tp/causes-of-world-war-1.htm>.
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Bloy, Marjorie. "Causes of the First World War." European History. 16 Nov. 2008
<http://www.historyhome.co.uk/europe/causeww1.htm>.
Bisson,
Cynthia Origins of the First World War. ProQuest. History Study Center.
ProQuest LLC. 1 Dec. 2008 <http://www.historystudycenter.com/>.